ASHA President: Is Parents ’ Smartphone Use the New Secondhand Smoke?

In a prominent “USA Today” op-ed—featured in the newspaper’s online Opinion section and reprinted by publications all over the country—ASHA 2020 President Theresa Rodgers addresses adults’ digital usage habits. Rodgers writes about how parents’ preoccupation with smartphones can negatively affect their children’s speech and language development. Parents’ diverted attention deprives children of essential day-to-day human interaction. This crucial early interaction fuels language development and communication skills. In the piece, Rodgers writes: “But anyone raising or caring for children today should know this hard truth: When parents or caregivers spend too much time turning away from their kids and toward technology, the foundation for a child’s communication skills is weakened. In a world with competing priorities and limited time, experts in my field of speech and language development are already seeing the impacts on children who have missed out on hours of essential, real-life face time—and the results are concerning. Many of my colleagues across the nation say they are seeing more children entering kindergarten with limited communication and social skills. Older children, they say, are unable to handle formal social interactions, like ordering from waitstaff at a restaurant.” Rodgers focuses on parental usage, rather than children’s, as an overlooked but key component of this conversation: “While we know that too much technology harms child...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Advocacy Audiology News Slider Speech-Language Pathology Autism Spectrum Disorder Early Intervention Language Disorders social skills Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs